It’s official. Camping season is here! Well almost. But that didn’t stop us from heading into the woods on this semi warm (21 degrees) winter weekend. Yes some might call us crazy, buy and this would be one of those times. But when you feel the need to escape you can’t deny it. So we hit the trains and trails of Harriman Park and set up camp at our favorite spot, order Lake Skenonto. We only went for in quick trip this time so we only prepped one meal. Beef stew. We wanted something hardy and quick to heat up, as time and day light would be short when we arrived at our campsite. After trudging through two feet of snow we hit camp and started to prep. Jason worked on getting a space cleared for a fire and I went hunting for wood. I came back with very little so we swapped chores and Jason hit the mother load! I found a log under the snow that we could sit on while our fire roared and I also set up the tent. After all that work and we rewarded ourselves with a shot of whiskey. With our fire ablaze we started dinner and enjoyed the serine quiet and beauty of the wilderness. After dinner and whiskey with a little snow to mellow it out we enjoyed the fire for a while and then headed into the tent to watch a movie.

The next day we woke to a couple of eagles singing a song, made some coffee and breakfast. After a little leisure time in our winter wonderland we decided to pack it in and slowly made our way back to the train. We didn’t have time for our usual Chinese farewell meal but that was ok. After walking through all that snow both ways, just getting home was reward enough. With our packs off our backs and a congratulatory glass of white wine we are melted into our coach and are dreaming of hitting the trails in spring.